If you live on or near a nesting beach and your lights are visible from the beach and/or the water,
PLEASE turn off your lights at 9pm and close your drapes.  It's the law!

Why is Lighting so Important?


For millions of years female sea turtles have been coming ashore to lay their eggs on beaches. In the past, baby turtles were guided to the ocean by an instinct to travel away from the dark silhouettes of the dune vegetation and toward the brightest horizon, which was the light from the moon and the sky reflecting off of the ocean.

Today, many coastal areas are highly populated with artificial lights near the beach that often deter females from nesting and disorient hatchling sea turtles. These lights cause the hatchlings to travel inland, away from the water, toward the bright lights, where they often die from dehydration, are preyed upon by fire ants and ghost crabs, or sometimes crawl onto the road where they are run over by cars.

Please help Save-A-Turtle's effort to protect our nesting sea turtles and hatchlings by shutting your lights, closing your drapes, or replacing your lighting with turtle friendly bulbs/lights.
Florida FWC 3 Golden Lighting Rules
  1. Keep it Low (mounting and wattage)
  2. Keep it Shielded – no lights should be visible from the beach or open water 
  3. Keep it Long (wavelength, RED or Amber LED)
Studies have shown that sea turtles are less likely to be attracted to RED or AMBER LED lights because of their long wavelength.
The state of Florida implemented Section 161.163, Florida Statutes, which requires the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to designate coastal areas utilized, or likely to be utilized, by sea turtles for nesting, and to establish guidelines for local government regulations that control beachfront lighting to protect hatching sea turtles. Read the model lighting ordinance in Chapter 62B-55 to learn more.
See if your county or municipality has adopted a lighting ordinance.  You can use the interactive map to search for your municipality and county OR print the static map which has each county and municipality listed.
Click the link below to view lighting ordinances for your county in Florida.
Click the link below to view Sea Turtle friendly lighting.
If you need help, please email us directly at
President@Save-A-Turtle.org.